


good things come in pairs

by spacershepards



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-04-09
Packaged: 2018-10-16 15:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10573944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacershepards/pseuds/spacershepards
Summary: two names on one person's wrist are rare.





	

The name on her wrist isn't in Russian.

Neither are her brother's, for that matter – but the names on his wrist are a whole different story, because the one on his right one is a man's name.

When the names appear on their tenth birthday – South's a whole hour and a half after her brother's, two seconds after she turns ten – their mother lets out a muffled gasp and grabs North's right arm, firing rapid Russian at their father.

He spends the next two years trying to scrub it off.

* * *

She's one of the lucky few with two names on her wrists, one on each one. Both male names. The first one appears when she is four, and her mother takes her left hand and traces the name with one finger. Two days after her mother dies, the second appears.

She prays that both of them have each other's names, because she wants nothing more than to love both of them, and to be loved by both of them.

(Probably because her mother told her so many stories about the names on her own mother's wrists.)

* * *

He's thirteen when the first name appears – a male's name, and his parents smile at it. He doesn't, because the kids at school call him a faggot and a freak and a pussy. He's a lot more happy when the second one appears in the middle of a school dance, a woman's name.

His date, on the other hand, thinks it's weird. So does he, at first - two names? What’s he supposed to do with _that_?  


But he learns to accept both of the names.

* * *

“So,” says the Freelancer in aqua armor, pulling off her helmet, cascades of red hair falling down her shoulders. She's beautiful. Really is. “You're Agent North Dakota.”

“That's me,” he replies – they're about eye level because she's in armor and he isn't. “I'm sure you've met my sister, South. You're... Agent Carolina, right?”

“Yes,” she says, and he can sense a faint smirk on her lips.

And then her eyes land on the names on his wrists.

And then she grabs his hands to look at them closer.

He frowns. “Yes, I have _two_ names.”

“No,” she says. “You have _my_ name... and I have _this_ name, too.”

* * *

Carolina watches Florida and Wyoming hold hands, and sneaks looks at North. He's staring at York, this oddly blissful look on his face. At first, she thought he was into York. Now she _knows_ he is.

It seems soulmates are bad at hiding things from each other.

“Maybe you should ask him if he wants in on a threesome,” says South, leaning towards both of them. North's told her that she's jealous that he found a soulmate and she still hasn't. North told her that she's a little bitter that it's Carolina, out of every possibility in the universe. “I mean, he's _clearly_ been checking both of you out.”

“Ha,” says North, glancing over at Carolina. “No way.”

* * *

He has been, but he wouldn't admit it.

It's not like rumors _don't_ spread – he knows they're soulmates. He knows that his are out there somewhere. But when he spies his name on Carolina's left wrist, and his name on North's right... well, that's when it gets complicated.

“Hey,” he says to North, right after training. “Can you show me the name on your wrist?”

“Uh... why?” asks North.

York frowns and starts pulling his armor off, then peels off his undersuit, doesn't care that he's basically naked. “Because I... think you have my name.”

* * *

Carolina's about as surprised as he is, but she accepts it a little quicker than he does. Funny, that he's had a bit of a crush on York for a while.

(When South finds out that he found both of his soulmates in the same place, she's pissed, ends up breaking his favorite mug. _It's not fair_ and _how come you get both of your fucking soulmates_ and _why the fuck do you get two?_ )

Luckily, York already liked both of them, and even more luckily, the three of them fit well together, tangled up in sheets.

* * *

“I love you,” she says, burying her face in the crook of York's neck, smiling against his skin.

“Oh, bet you say that to North, too.”

“She does,” says North, tightening his arms around her.

She laughs and promises herself to hit both of them when she has the chance.

* * *

Names gray out when people die.

York stares at the names on his wrists, choking back tears – Carolina's isn't perfectly gray, but it's like the color's been pulled out of it. He can picture snow. Can picture red hair, flamed out against it.

North stays by his side, though.

* * *

But eventually North has to leave. South needs him to - the name on her wrist is all gray out, too, and he wonders who she lost and never met.  


And eventually, the name on his right wrist goes gray, too.  


* * *

When she meets the Reds and Blues, she has two gray names on her wrists.


End file.
